{{Short description|American businessman (born 1934)}} {{Infobox person | name = Donald Vester Fites | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = 1934<!-- {{birth date|1934|MM|DD}} --> | birth_place = Tippecanoe, Indiana | known_for = Former Chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, Inc. | education = Valparaiso University 1956 <br>MIT Sloan School of Management 1971 | employer = | occupation = | years_active = | boards = Carnegie Endowment for International Peace<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.carnegieendowment.org/about/index.cfm?fa=trustees |title=About - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |access-date=2010-03-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407161736/http://www.carnegieendowment.org/about/index.cfm?fa=trustees |archive-date=2010-04-07 }}</ref><br>Phi Kappa Psi Foundation | awards = | website = }}
'''Donald Vester Fites''' (born 1934) was the chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, Inc. from 1990 to 1999.<ref name=cat/>
==Early life== Don Fites was born in 1934 in Tippecanoe, Indiana.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggHn371EbJE|title=Interesting People #107 "Donald V. Fites"|via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> He attended Valparaiso University, where he joined Phi Kappa Psi.<ref>''Grand Catalogue of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity - Twelfth Edition'', p.107: Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company, 1985.</ref> He graduated with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1956, and soon after joined Caterpillar.<ref name=cat>{{cite news |author= Jonathan P. Hicks |title=At Caterpillar's Helm, Calm and a Global View |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/13/us/at-caterpillar-s-helm-calm-and-a-global-view.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date= April 13, 1992 }}</ref>
He attended Valparaiso University in 1956.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://alumni.valpo.edu/s/1347/17/page-1col.aspx?sid=1347&gid=1&pgid=60&cid=169&referer=&query=errors%2f404.aspx|title=System - Error 404|website=alumni.valpo.edu}}{{fv|date=July 2025}}</ref> He then attended the MIT Sloan School of Management as a Sloan Fellow, and received his MBA in 1971.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://mitsloan.mit.edu/alumni/pdf/ROI_Fall_02.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-03-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100615121558/http://mitsloan.mit.edu/alumni/pdf/ROI_Fall_02.pdf |archive-date= 2010-06-15 }}</ref>
==Career== He attained the position of vice president at Caterpillar in 1981, and then executive vice president in 1985. 1990 marked Don's elevation to the positions of chief executive officer and chairman of the board, which he held until he reached the mandatory retirement age in 1999.
==References== <references/>
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100702230932/http://www.mysaboard.org/NAB_PastChair.cfm My Salvation Army Board - National Advisory Board Members] *[http://www.peoriamagazines.com/ibi/1994/mar/interview-donald-v-fites An Interview with Donald V. Fites] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090807063000/http://www.peoriamagazines.com/ibi/1994/mar/interview-donald-v-fites |date=2009-08-07 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fites, Donald V.}} Category:People from Tippecanoe County, Indiana Category:People from Peoria, Illinois Category:Valparaiso University alumni Category:MIT Sloan School of Management alumni Category:MIT Sloan Fellows Category:Caterpillar Inc. people Category:Living people Category:1934 births